Soundtrack to the Apocalypse

This November, visionary saxophonist, rapper, and composer Soweto Kinch reunites with the London Symphony Orchestra at the Barbican for Soundtrack to the Apocalypse - the climactic finale to his acclaimed trilogy of politically charged, genre-defying works that have redrawn the boundaries of British jazz, hip hop, and orchestral music.

The trilogy began with The Black Peril (2019), an exploration of 1919 - a year marked by the First World War’s aftermath and anti-Black race riots in the US and UK, and continued with White Juju (2022), a searing tone poem forged from the turbulence of lockdown life, the Black Lives Matter movement, and Britain’s culture wars.

Now, Soundtrack to the Apocalypse pushes into speculative territory - a futuristic meditation on collapse and renewal. Apocalyptic visions collide with spiritual reflection and cutting-edge sonic experimentation. The piece features Kinch’s first use of the aerophone (electronic saxophone) and a hip hop-inspired sequence of short, high-impact tracks, mirroring the fractured, scroll-speed rhythm of contemporary life.

“Despite the title, this isn’t about doom,” Kinch explains. “The Greek root of ‘apocalypse’ means ‘to unveil’. This show is about revealing - not just what’s wrong, but what might still be possible.”

Taking place at the Barbican on Friday November 14th, the performance promises a bold and immersive experience, fusing orchestral grandeur with the raw immediacy of live beat-making and Kinch’s razor-sharp lyricism - a radical reimagining of what a 21st-century symphony can be.